Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 72[a]
The Kingdom of the Messiah
1 Of Solomon.
O God, endow the king with your judgment,
the son of kings with your righteousness.
2 [b]He will govern your people fairly
and deal justly with your poor ones.
3 The mountains will yield peace for the people,
and the hills, righteousness.
4 He will defend the afflicted among the people,
save the children of the poor,
and overwhelm the oppressor.
5 He will reign as long as the sun,
as long as the moon, through all generations.
6 He will descend like rain on the meadow,
like showers that water the earth.
7 Justice will reign in his days,
and peace will abound
until the moon is no more.
8 His rule will extend from sea to sea,[c]
and from the river to the ends of the earth.
9 His foes[d] will bow down before him,
and his enemies will lick the dust.
10 The kings of Tarshish[e] and the Islands
will offer him tribute;
the kings of Sheba and Seba
will present him with gifts.
11 All kings will pay him homage,
and all nations will serve him.
12 For he will save the poor who cry out
and the needy who have no one to help them.
13 He will have pity on the lowly and the poor;
the lives of the needy he will save.
14 He will free them from oppression and violence,
for their blood is precious in his sight.
15 [f]Long may he live!
May the gold of Sheba be given to him.
May people pray for him unceasingly
and invoke blessings[g] on him all day long.
16 May grain abound throughout the land,
even growing abundantly on the mountain tops.
May its crops[h] be as plenteous as those of Lebanon,
and may its people flourish like the grass of the field.
17 May his name[i] be blessed forever;
may it endure as long as the sun.
May all peoples be blessed in him;
may all the nations proclaim his greatness.
18 [j]Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
who alone can perform such wondrous deeds.
19 May his glorious name be blessed forever,
and may the whole world be filled with his glory.
Amen. Amen.
20 The end of the psalms of David, son of Jesse.[k]
Psalm 111[a]
Praise of God for His Wondrous Works
1 Alleluia.
I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart[b]
in the council of the upright and in the assembly.
2 Great are the works of the Lord;[c]
they are pondered by all who delight in them.
3 His deeds[d] show forth majesty and splendor,
and his righteousness endures forever.
4 He has won renown for his wonders;[e]
gracious and compassionate is the Lord.
5 He provides food for those who fear him,[f]
and is forever mindful of his covenant.
6 He has manifested the power of his works to his people
by giving them the lands[g] of the nations.
7 The works of his hands[h] are faithful and right,
and all his commandments are trustworthy.
8 They are established forever and ever
to be observed in fidelity and truthfulness.
9 He has granted deliverance to his people
and established his covenant forever;
holy and awe-inspiring is his name.[i]
10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;[j]
those who are guided by it will grow in understanding.
His praise will last forever.
The Egyptian Hallel—Pss 113–118[a]
Psalm 113[b]
Praise of the Lord for His Care of the Lowly
1 Alleluia.
Praise, you servants of the Lord,[c]
praise the name of the Lord.
2 [d]Blessed be the name of the Lord
now and forevermore.
3 From the rising of the sun to its setting
the name of the Lord is to be praised.
4 [e]High is the Lord over all the nations,
and supreme over the heavens is his glory.
5 Who is like the Lord, our God,
the one who is enthroned on high
and who stoops down to look
6 on the heavens and the earth?
7 [f]He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the rubbish heap,
8 seating them with princes,
with the princes of his people.
9 He settles the barren woman[g] in a home
and makes her the joyful mother of children.
Alleluia.
9 “To whom will the prophet impart knowledge?
To whom will he explain his message?
To babies who are newly weaned,
to those just taken from the breast?
10 With him we are given
command after command, command after command,
rule after rule, rule after rule,
here a little, there a little.”[a]
11 Now, with stammering lips
and in an alien tongue,
he will speak to this people,
12 to whom he has said,
“This is the place for rest;
give rest to the weary.
This is the place for repose.”
However, they would not listen.
13 Therefore, to them the word of the Lord will be,
“Command after command, command after command,
rule after rule, rule after rule,
here a little, there a little.”
14 Therefore, listen to the word of the Lord,
you arrogant rulers of this people in Jerusalem.
15 Proudly you have boasted,
“We have made a covenant with death
and entered into a pact with the netherworld.
And so, when the overwhelming scourge occurs,
it will not afflict us.
For we have made lies our refuge
and taken shelter in falsehood.”
16 Therefore, the Lord God
has this to say to you in response:
Behold, I am laying a stone in Zion,
a stone that has been tested,
a precious cornerstone as a firm foundation;
those who place their trust in it will not falter.
17 And I will make justice the measuring line,
with righteousness as the plumb line.
Hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,
and flood waters will submerge your hiding place.
18 Then your covenant with death will be annulled
and your pact with Sheol will not survive.
When the raging waters roar forth,
you will be overwhelmed by them.
19 As often as the flood sweeps through,
it will engulf you,
sweeping over you day and night,
as terror conveys the message clearly.
20 For your bed will be too short
to enable you to stretch out,
and the blanket will be too narrow
to cover you sufficiently.
21 Then the Lord will rise up as on Mount Perazim,
and he will rage as he did in the Valley of Gibeon,
to accomplish his work, his mysterious work,
and to perform his deed, his strange deed.[b]
22 Therefore, cease your arrogance,
or your bonds will be further tightened.
For the Lord God of hosts has revealed to me
the destruction he has decreed for the entire earth.
The New Jerusalem. 9 One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven final plagues came forward and said to me, “Come, and I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 Then he carried me away in the spirit[a] to the top of a very high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. 11 It possessed the glory of God and had the radiance of some priceless jewel, like jasper, clear as crystal.
12 Its wall was of a great height, with twelve gates,[b] and at the gates there were twelve angels. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. 13 There were three gates to the east, three to the north, three to the south, and three to the west. 14 The city wall had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 15 The angel who was speaking to me was carrying a gold measuring rod to measure the city,[c] its gates, and its wall. 16 The city was laid out like a square, with its length and its width identical. He measured the city with his measuring rod: it was fifteen hundred miles[d] in length and width, and equal in height.
17 Then he measured its wall, and it was one hundred and forty-four cubits[e] high by human measurements, which the angel employed. 18 [f]The wall was built of jasper, while the city itself was of pure gold, as bright as clear glass.
19 The foundations of the city wall were adorned with precious stones of every kind. The first of the foundation stones was jasper, the second sapphire, the third turquoise, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. 21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates fashioned from a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
26 Announcement of the Birth of Jesus.[a] In the sixth month,[b] the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin[c] betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.
28 The angel came to her and said, “Hail, full of grace![d] The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was greatly troubled by his words and wondered in her heart what this salutation could mean.
30 Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 He will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
34 Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”[e] 35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the child to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. 36 [f]And behold, your cousin Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month, 37 for nothing will be impossible for God.”
38 Then Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be done to me according to your word.” After this, the angel departed from her.
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